Regulations relating to environmental issues include refrigerant regulations and energy-saving regulations as well as environmental regulations, such as hazardous substances regulations and recycling regulations. And if history is any indication, regulations and policies that are first adopted by the remarkably environmentally-conscious European Union (EU) are either completely or at least partially incorporated by other regions.

Hazardous Substances Regulations

Europe

The EU’s Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) implemented in July 2006 requires six hazardous substances including lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium and flame retardants, such as polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), to be substituted with safer alternatives. Each EU member country has passed legislation adopting this directive sequentially. Concentration values of relevant substances in all the constituent parts of the targeted products must be less than the rated maximum values. However, in the case that any adequate substitution is not yet available, application of this regulation is exempted under certain conditions.